Paste applying mechanism



Dec. 25, 1934. w. D. KIMBALL l 1,985,293

PASTE APPLYING MECHANLSM Filed Aug. 20, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 25,1934. w D. KIMBALL PASTE APPLYING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 20, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 2 'l INVEN O 72s ATTORNEYS Wal/ace Patented Dec. 25,` 1934vi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PASTE APPLYING MEcnANIsM Wallace D.Kimball, Jacksonnelghts, N. Y., as-

signor to Standard-Knapp Corporation, Long Island City, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application August zen-1932, serial No. 629,569

' s claims. (01.91-54) .This invention relates to mechanism for apply-'ing paste, glue o r other adhesive to strips or the like, such, forexample, as labels, to aid in securing them to articles such as cans,bottles and similar containers. Y

Diiculty has heretofore been experienced in placing upon the strip orlabel just the righ amount of paste to produce a good joint and incontrolling the application of the paste so as to prevent it fromspreading overan undesirably large area, or reaching parts of the labelwhich should be kept free from paste.

4 The labeling machines by means ofwhich the labels are applied to thearticles are usually arranged to receive the ungummed labels in a stackcontaining from several hundred to a' thousand r or more labels. .Thelabels lie in the stack-up- Iside down sothat theback of theupperlnostlabel is exposed. They are removed one bylone from the top of the stackby suitable mechanism lwhich places them upon the articles.Y Paste isapplied to the uppermost label just before it is removed from the stack.

The primary object of my Present to provide a mechanism which will applythe invention is paste where it is desired without getting toolnuch,l

paste on the label and without having it spread over an unduly largesurface of the label, and. also without having it run down the edges ofthe stack of labels thereby sticking them to? .gethelu y l Anotherobject of the .inventionis to apply the paste in such a way as to avoidpulling the stack of labels over to one side, thereby moving them outof4 position to be' properly acted -upon b y the mechani'smfor placingthem on the articles.

The natural shape which labels of different kinds assume in ajstackvaries. Some labels re-` main perfectly straight, others bulge upwardlyso face. Sometimes-however, due to the printing or that the paste isapplied to a plane or convex sur embossing on the frontl of the labels,they tend to.

present in the stack an upwardly concave surface.

y Itis difficult to properly apply the paste to -al concave label, andanother object of the invention is to provide mechanism which willaccom# use in connection with a machine for applying labels on roundcans. Cnly a suicient portion of the labelzapplying machine will beillustrated, however, to z show the general principle of operation ofthe label applying machine, and itA will vbe understood that the deviceof my invention can be t utilized wherever itis desired to apply arelatively narrow elongated band of paste across a flat, con- .vex orconcave surface. The embodiment of my invention in a can label ingmachineis shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a sideelevation of the paste applying mechanism with certainV parts shown insection,

fthe entire view being also a section taken transversely and verticallyof the labeling machine and 'through the stack of labels on the brokenline Fig. 2 is a fragmentary and somewhat diagrammatic longitudinalsection through a part the section being taken on line 2-2`of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the paste-applying mechanism and the rearportion of the label stack and the parts adjacent thereto;

4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 4-,4 of Fig. 3,showing the construction and relation of the parts which apply the paste'to the uppermost label ofthe stack;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken online .of the labeling machineand-the stackof labels, f'

Fig.6is a similar view takenonline-Gof 3 of a continuously moving beltwhich is held in frlctional contact with the upper sides of the cans bymeans of stationary guides or rollers 4. Before reaching the' positionshown in Fig. 2, the can 1 is passed in contact with a plurality ofrotating discs 5 which are mounted upon' shaft 6 and which rotate withina body of glue or gum 'l andapply t`o the side of the can a plurality ofspots of adhesive arranged in 'spaced relation throughout the length ofthe can. 'I'he stack of labels 8 shown in-1ongitudinal vertical sectionin Fig. 2 is placed at such a distance from the glue applying discs 5that'the canwill make one complete revolution in moving from the discsto the front end of the label stack, so that the spots of adhesive whichhave been applied to the can will pick up the front end of the upper.most label and stick it to the can. Then the can rolls up the inclinedportions of a pair. -of rails 10. This elevates the can above the top ofthe stack of labels and separates the uppermost label As the canl 1continues to advance along the elevatedv rails 10, the uppermost labelis drawn to the left s that the right-hand or rear end of the labelslides out from beneath the belt 1l and the belt then contactsfwith the-next label.4 Dur- V ing this movement of withdrawal, the label slides'beneath a curling bar 12, preferably having 'teeth 13, which yieldinglypresses against the top of the stack of labels.

Further rolling of the can 'along the rails 10 withdraws the label frombeneath the curling bar l2 and completes the wrapping of .the labelabout the can. `Then the can rolls vforaiishort distance over a mat 14which extends' between the rails l0 and by which the weightof the can asit rolls along is caused to smooth out the label upon its surface,removing wrinkles, pressing together the overlapping ends of the labeland leaving the label neatly applied.

The mounting for curling bar v12consists of two bell cranks 15 pivotedat 16 to arms 17 which the belt. In this way. the paste'is preventedfrom collecting on the curling bar, and then being rubbed oi by thecurling bar onto succeeding labels. Heretofore much diiiiculty hasbeenexperienced through the smearing of pastel upon the labels in thisway, for wherever the paper adheres to the can between the ends of thelabel, it either rusts the can or lwrinkles the label, depending uponatmospheric conditions.

The endless belt 11, by means of which the line of paste is applied tothe surface of the uppermost label at the right-hand end, consists of aclosely coiled helix of -metal wire. may be made of anysuitablefresilient material such,'for example,

as brass, copper, phosphor-bronze or steel. A belt made of the hardsteel wire known as piano wir has been found to give very satisfactoryresults. B elr. 11 passes aro d the grooved driving pulley `19 mountedabove a paste receptacle 20 at the left-,hand side ofthe machine, asshown in Figs. 1 and 3. Pulley 19 is mounted upon shaft 2l and rotatedin the direction of the arrow shown in 1 so that the upper reach ofthebelt 1,1 moves to the right-hand side of the machine, passing beneaththe'end of mat 14 and around a stationary guide member 22. The lowerreach of the belt The then passes overa stationary guiding stud 23 andbeneath a positioning shoe 24 -by meansof which the belt is deliveredinto contact with the surface "-of the uppermost label in the stack oflabels 8.

'I'he belt passes across the label from one side edge to the other,beneath a yieldingly mounted arm 25, and then over 'a guide wheel 26 andback to driving pulley 19.

A body of paste 27 is contained withinthe paste receptacle 20 androtating in this paste is a disc 28. This disc rotates continuously andthrows a surplus of the paste against the pulley 19 so that the lowerportion of this pulley and the belt 19 are continuously bathed in thepaste. This surplus of paste is wiped off from both sides of the pulley,the periphery of the pulley, and the belt 11, by means of a wipingdevice 29. K

The body of wiping device 29 is provided with two side members or cheeks30 which closely engage the sides of the pulley 19, and with an ad-`instable scraper 31, the end of which is grooved to receive the belt 11and which closely fits the pulley and the belt. This scraper is'adjusted into close rubbing contact with the belt andthe edge of thepulley by means of two adjusting screws 32 and then secured in thisposition by means of screw 33 which passes through a slot in the scraperand -is threaded into the body of the wiping device. -The wiping device29 as a whole s secured to a short shaft 34,which is mounted in abracket 35 and has attached at its opposite end an arm 36 to which'ahelical spring 37 is secured. The lower end of this spring is fixed tothe frame of the machine. y

By means of this construction the wiping device 29 isurged against thepulley 19 and belt 11 by means of the spring 37. Anadjustable stop screw38 is arranged to take a portion of the pressure of spring 37 andenables the scraper 31 to be resiliently but firmly held in extremelyclose rub-A bing engagement with the surface of they pulley and the beltwithout causing an undue amount of friction between the rubbingsurfaces. In other words, this construction enables the employment of a.reasonably heavy spring 37 so as to enable the scraper to effectivelyremove the large surplus of paste from the pulley and belt, and at thesame timepart of the stress of this spring is taken by' the stop screw38 instead of allof the stress being taken by the pulley. i

The wiping-device 29 is so adjusted that all of the paste applied to thebelt 11 by means of disc 28 is removed except the-paste which isretained by the capillarity of the spaces between the ,convolutlons ofthe belt which have been indicated at 39 in the magnified view Figwl.When a metal belt having-capillary spaces of this kind is passed over acurved stationary surface such as is formed on each of the projections40 of the stationary guide 22, or a curved stationary surface such asthat of the guide stud 23, paste does not collect upon such surfaces toany substantial extent. It will be understood that instead of employingthe stationary guide 22 and guide stud 23, pulleys or rollers may beused. 1f pulleys or rollers are employed, however, there is a tendencyfor the paste to accumulate on them andbe thrown off. By utilizing therounded-surfaced stationary guides no'difllculty is experienced with thethrowing or dripping of paste. A film of paste is applied by thebelt tothe surfaces of the rounded guides, and this serves as a lubricant, butthere is no collection of paste upon the guides. If paste is depositedfrom the interstices of the belt onto such a guide surface as the beltmakes contact with the guide,

an equal amount of paste is removed by Athe 'interstlces of the belt asthe belt leaves the guide.

Stationary guide member 22 is made in ap proxlm'ately semi-circular formand is provided with a suillcient number of spaced guide" projections 40to adequately support thebelt 11 and cause it to bend in a suillcientlylarge radius of curvature to avoid sharp bends. Stationary guide member22 is mounted' with the plane of the centers of its projections 40 at aslight angle to the vertical so as to throw the lower rea'ch of the belt11 slightly. v'ahead of the end of the ed upon a rigid bar 42 thatextends crosswise of mat 14 and the upper reach of the-belt under theend of mat 14 so as to protect the same from contact with the labelwhich is being wrapped about the can. This prevents the removal ofadhesive from the upper reach of the belt and also prevents the smearingof the label with adhesive. Stationary guide member 22 is carried upon ablock 41 which is slidably mountthe labeling machine from a bracket 43on the adhesive receptacle 20. Bar 42 is rmly and adstretch given tobelt 11 determines its paste-4 carrying capacity. The belt, aspreviously stated, is a closely wound helix, that is, the adjacent4convolutions lie in .contact with one another f when the belt is notunder tension. Stretching of the belt, however, separates the adjacentturns of the helix and increases the size of the capillary spaces 39 sothat a larger amount of paste is carried by the belt and applied to thesurface of the label in much the same manner as spreading o1' the nibsof a writing pen increases the flow of ink from the pen to the paper.

The guiding stud 23 and the positioning shoe 24 serve to cause thebeltll to make proper contact with the surface of the uppermost label in'stack 8. It isirnportant that the belt Vbe prevented from touching theupper right-hand corner of the stack of labels, as shown in Figs. 4, 1and 3, as it approaches the label surface, since contact of the beltwith any sharp surface would cause the removal of a large quantity ofpaste from the b elt. Hence, if the belt were allowed to slide over'thecorner Aof the label stack 8, a. large amount of paste would bedeposited onthe vertical side of the label stack and this' would rundown the side of the stack, smearingvthe labels and sticking themtogether so that their appearance would be injured and the removal ofthe labels one at a time from the top of the stack would be interferedwith.

The upper surface of guiding stud 23 is positioned above the stack oflabels and also above the'guiding surfac 46 of shoe 24. The elevation ofguiding stud 23 and the pressure of shor 24 compel the belt 11 toapproach the surface of the label from a point above the label as shownin Figs. 4 and 1, and the forward end of guiding surface 46 ispositionedfrom 'about gli to to the left ofthe edge of the'labels. Also, guidingshoe 2.4 is provided with a pair of feet 47 which -straddle the belt 11and slightly depress the corner of the label stack, as may be seen inFig. 4. In this manner the contact of the belt with the corner of thelabel stackis prevented, .and at the same time paste is applied to thelabel at a point very close to the side edge of the label.

Guiding stud23 and shoe 24 should always be held in thev same relative.position, and to maintain them thus they are rcarried upon a singlemounting member 48, a bottom view of which is shown in Fig. 7. Member-48 is pivoted upon a U-shaped bracket 49 (see Fig. 5) by means of ashaft 50 which turns loosely in the bracket and is flxedvto member 48 bymeans of a set screw 5l..

These parts are held in their assembled relation by collar 52 on theright-hand end of shaft 50 shown in Fig. 3. Also mounted upon shaft 50is a short arm 53. A helical spring 54 -is attached at its upper end tothis arm and at its lower end to the centen portion of bracket 49.

Arm 53 is made fast to shaft 50 by means of a thumb screw 55 and hencespring 54 serves to urge shoe 24 against the upper surface'of belt 11-and provides vthe proper 'amount of wiping 'or rubbing pressure betweenthe belt and the surface of the label. This pressure can be adjusted asdesired by means of the thumb screw 55. Bracket 49 is supported upon bar42 on which it is slidably moimted and may be adjusted in itsposition bythumb screw 56. By this lateral adjustment of bracket 49 the feet 47 ofshoe 24'are made to engage the surface of the uppermost label in closeproximity to the corner of the. label stack 8.

When the natural shape of the upper surfacev of the labels in the stackis vstraight or convex from'side to side, the arm 25 is adjusted to aposition adjacent the left-hand edge of the label stack as viewed inFigs. 1 and 3, in order to insure that the spring touches and appliespaste to the left-hand edge of .the label as it passes off of the same.face of the labels is concave arm 25 is'shii'ted to the center ofthelabel stack and in this position, as shown in Fig. 4, it forces thesurface -of the belt 11 downward into contact with the depressed centerof the label.

To permit this adjustment arm 25 is mounted near the end of atransversely disposed rod 57 mounted in a projection 58 that extendsvertically from bracket 17a, previously referred to. On the outer end ofrod 57 there is a short arm 59, which is shown in dotted lines in Fig.2, and to the 'outer end of which a biasing spring 60 is attached. Bymeans of this spring arm 25 is urged downwardly against the surface ofbelt 11 and maintains thev portion of the belt to the left of shoe 24 incontact with the surface of the label. Arm 59 is held upon rod 57 bymeans of aset screw shown in Fig. 2. When arm 25 is shifted from themiddle of the label to a position near the edge of it, the screw in arm59 may be loosened so as to permit the arm to be shifted correspondinglyon rod 57.

The stack of labels 8 is supported upon a platform 61 within a cageformed by vertical bars 65 which depend from a pair of frame membersthat extend horizontally along each side of and When, however, the uppersur- `(Fig. 3)'. 'This lrod is slidably and rotatably l near the top ofthe label stack. The inner surfaces of vertical bars and the framemembers v the pressure ofbelt 1l and guiding shoe 24, thereby feedingthe stack upwardly as the labels are removed and maintainingthe-.uppermost label in contact with the belt.

` The brackets 17a and 1'Ib referred to previously and shown in Figs. 3,2 and 8 are mounted upon web-like horizontal extensions 67 which areprovided along the lower edges of frame members 66. These brackets arefrictionally held in position upon web-like members 67 by means of widenat spr. ngs 68 that are attached to the bottoms of the brackets andengage the lower surfaces of the web-like members as shown clearly inFig. 8. As previously described, each of brackf ets 17a and 17h has anobliquely extending arm 17 which affords pivoted support for the curlingbar 12. They also each have long horizontal arms 69 which may be seen inFigs. 3 and 2 to the ends of which springs 18 are attached whichyieldingly urge the curling bar against the uppermost label. Brackets17a and l'lbare alike except for the fact that bracket 17a is providedwith a vertical projection 58 for supporting rod 57 andv arm 25.Projection 58 also serves another function which will now be described.

It.will be observed from Figs. 1, 2 and 8 that the upper part of thelabel stack 8 consisting of some half dozen labels projects above thetops of frame members 66. This is necessary in order to insure that theuppermost label will be picked "up by the approaching can since a stackof labels is easily compressible, and must beV compressed between thecan andthe uppermost label to insure that they will Vadhere to eachother. If the upper portion of the label stack did not extend above thetops. of members 66 the` approaching can would be supported by thesemembersjand.

insufficient pressure would be exerted` between the uppermost label andthe can to cause ,it to adhere to the can without fail.

One of the diiliculties heretofore encounteredV with the wide flat beltsof rubber, leather, etc..

heretofore used has been that the great amount of friction between sucha belt and the uppermost label caused the lap end of the lablel. to beswept to one side of the` stack. It was a dillicult n ,problem tosupport the stack in such a way'as to cause the front end of the labelto be with certainty picked up by the can and to prevent the rear end ofthe label from being moved to one side by the belt.

With the employmentY of the helically wound metal wire belt of my prentinvention, however, the friction between the belt and the label is sosmall that it is ordinarily less than thefrlction between the uppermostlabeland the label ynext to it so that no sidewise displacement of thelabel occurs. However, to positively prevent such sidewise displacementit is only necessary to provde a stop for the side edge of the uppermostlabel adjacent the belt l1. This stop as shown in Figs. 2 and 8 consistsof the upper part of provided with an extension 70 (Figs. 2 and 3) whichextends to a point close to the belt l1.

Projection 58 anditsextension 'I0 are the only parts which contact withand afford anyV sidewise support tothe labels which are above the topsof frame members 66. With the upper portion of the label stack leftunsupported in the sidegise direction except in the manner just ded, theloperation of the paste-applying Lacasse employed would be extremelydifficult, if not quite impossible. It has been found unexpectedly,however, that with the belt 'made of a metal wire helix above described,there is no tendency for the shifting -of the label to occur.

Paste is prevented from accumulating in the groove of pulley 19 by meansof a-resilient scraping finger 62,-the end of which is shaped to conformto the surface of the pulley. This finger consists of: a thin strip ofmetal having its righthand portions, 'as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3, soshaped that it maybe conveniently supported upon the side of bracket 43by means of a pair of screws 63; This scraper is mounted so as to engagethe surface of pulley 19 at thepoint where belt 11 leaves the pulley.The belt,'in fact, rides lightly in contact with the upper surface ofthis scraper and in this way any. paste which the belt may tend to leavein the groove of pulley` 19 is immediately scraped from the groove andthe belt picks it up :again from the upper surface of scraper 62. i l vThe endsgof the helically wound belt 11 are secured together by meansofa shortsection of similarly wound spring 64 shown in Fig. 4. Thisshort section is cfa-diameter to t within the interior of belt l1 andits convolutions have the same pitch so that the two ends of the beltmay be threaded one upon each half of the section 64, bringing the endsof the belt into such close proximity that itis difficult to locate thejoint in somewhat in order to provide suillcient pressure fends o f thelabels. In the labeling machines lwhich I have thus far equipped withthe im'- proved paste-applying device of my present inventiOn, I haveused helical belts of 1/8 externall fdiameter, and such abelt depositsupon the labels a strip of paste aboutg" in width.

By means of the improved paste-applying placed upon the lap end ofthelabelin a continuus line or strip running across the end of the labelcommencing at a pointy very close to one side edge of the label andextending all the way to the opposite edge of the label. 'I'heapplication of the paste close to the right-hand edge of the label canbe very accurately controlled by adjusting the position of the shoe 24without fear of having paste run down the edge of the stack of labels.-The desired amount of paste mechanism of my present invention, the pasteis to produce a neat application of the label to the can can be veryeasily and quickly controlled or regulated by varying the tension on thebelt 11 even while the .labeling machine continues in operation.

' If it is necessary to stop the labeling machine from any cause', it isnot necessary to raise the belt 11 from contact with the stack oflabels.

While during such a lperiod an excess of paste may flow from the beltonto the surface of the label, as Asoon as theV machine is again startedAthis surplus paste .is promptly -picked up by the belt and returned topaste receptacle /20. Only4 'a few revolutions of the beltare requiredtodo ing the ends of the belt'at the ends of the join- Y ing section 64.It is only necessary to slip the belt olf from the guide 22 and free itfrom the guide 23 and shoe 24. The belt can then from pulley 19 andentirely removed from the machine merely by elevating the wiping device29.

On account of the extremely small amount o f friction between thesurface of the metal spring belt and the surface of the label, thelabels can be readily retained in the stack without tendency .to pullthe stack to one side. The speed at which the belt 11 is operateddepends upon the rapidity with which the labels.

are removed from the stack 8 and applied to the cans. Thus, when therate -of application of the labels is relatively low, the speed of thebelt may be low, and vice-versa. The speed of the belt, however, must besufficiently high that a given point of the belt will travel a distanceequal to the width of the labels in the period of time which elapsesbetween the removal ofsuccessive labels. Otherwise the strip of adhesivewill not extend all the way across the label, since a portion of thelabel would be wiped only by a portion of the belt 'from which paste hadalready been removed by the previous label.

It is to be understood that the above is .merely an exemplifyingdisclosure and that changes may be made in the construction of thedevice which are within the terms of the appended claims withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In an adhesive-applying mechanism, an adhesive-applying member ofhelical form, means for applying a surplus of adhesive to said member,

Y means for removingr therefrom all said adhesive l adhesive-applyingmember comprising a resilient lamentary body wound into the form of acloselycoiled helix, means for applying a surplusI of adhesive to saidmember, means for removing there- 'from all said adhesive except thatretained by capillarity within the spaces between the convolutions ofsaid member, means for moving said member in contact with the surface towhich the adhesive is to be applied, and means for stretching saidmember so as to increase the spacing of said convolutionsA and therebyincrease the amount of adhesive applied by said member.

3. vIn an adhesive-applying mechanism, an endless belt consisting of ahelix of resilient metal wire, means for applying a surplus of adhesiveto the belt, means for removing therefrom all said adhesive except thatretained by capillarity within the spacesbetween the convolutions ofsaid belt, means for wiping the belt over the surface to which theadhesive is to be applied, and means for stretching the belt to increaseits adhesive-carrying capacity;

4. In an adhesive-applying mechanism," an adhesive-applying membercomprising an endless belt of resilient fllamentary material wound inhelical form, and a support for said member having a stationary surfaceover which the belt slides, and means for preventing the collection ofadhesive on said support comprising a stationary curved surface forleading the belt onto said support and a second stationary curvedsurface for discharging the belt from said support.

5. In an adhesive applying mechanism, an adhesive-applying membercomprising an endless belt of resilient iilamentary material wound inhelical form, and means for supporting and changing the direction oftravel of the belt comprising a hub member having a plurality of spacedlradial fingers projecting therefrom each of said fingers having asaddle-shaped seat for preventing the sidewise displacement of the belt,and being curved in the direction of travel of the belt, the

radii of curvature thereof being greater than the radius of curvature ofthe belt.

6. In an adhesive-applying mechanism, an endless belt consisting of ahelix of resilientl metal wire for carrying the adhesive, and asupport'for said belt serving as a pulley and comprising a stationaryhub member having a plurality of spaced radial fingers projectingtherefrom, each of said lingers having a stationary curved surface overwhich the belt slides, and means on each of said fingers vfor preventingthe collection of adhesive comprising a stationary curved surface forleading the belt onto said finger and a second stationary curved surfacefor discharging the belt froml said nger.

7. In a'n` adhesive-applying mechanism, an adhesive-applying member,said member having adhesive-carrying capillary pockets the capacity ofwhich can be varied, means for loading said member with adhesive, meansfor removing all said adhesive except thatretained by capillarity withinsaid pockets, means'for causing said member to wipe against the surfaceto which the adhesive is to be applied, and means for controlling thesize of said pockets to regulate theamount of adhesive deposited on saidsurface.

8. In a labelling machine meansfor supporting a stack of labels withtheir inside surfaces turned upwardly, means for withdrawing theuppermost label from the stack and applying it to an article, a belthaving one reach thereof arranged to travel over the surface of saiduppermost label, said belt having adhesive-carrying pockets ofadjustable capacity, means for loadingsaid belt with adhesive, means forremoving all said adhesive except that retained by capillaritywithinsaid pockets, the latter adhesive being deposited upon the surface ofsaid uppermost label in a narrow film-like band, and means for varyingthe capacity of said pockets to regulate the amount of adhesivedeposited on said film-like band.

WALLACE, D. KIMBALL.

